


One-Sided

by AshsHorrorShow



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Lots of References to Various Universes, M/M, More of a Riddler Character Piece, One-Sided Attraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 18:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8024794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshsHorrorShow/pseuds/AshsHorrorShow
Summary: He usually disagreed with people called him insane. He wasn't insane. He was nothing more than a bored genius with something to prove. However, nowadays, he was starting to think their claims held a ring of truth to them. After all, him actually harboring somewhat romantic feelings towards the Batman was just that... insane.





	One-Sided

It wasn’t as if Edward Nygma had wanted this little… thing to happen. Trust him, his life would be so much easier if he didn’t have these pesky feelings and thoughts latching onto the back of his mind like some sort of parasite or virus. He had to say, he didn’t know why the media hyped up romantic attraction so much. It was incredibly distracting and detrimental to production. 

Edward often disagreed with people accused him of being insane. He wasn’t. People like the Joker were insane. He, on the other hand, was nothing more than a bored genius who was ready to prove to everyone in Gotham who’d ever doubted him that not only was he the smartest man around, but that he was also a force to be reckoned with. To him, there was a big difference. Just because no one else around here seemed to understand his overwhelming desire to prove this didn’t mean he was insane, it just meant they were simpleminded. It meant that they didn’t know what it was like to be stepped on like a doormat their whole life like he had. It meant that they would’ve been one of the ones who had been fully willing to use him back in the day. With that in mind, their words didn’t matter to him. At all. 

Well, that was how he used to feel anyway… but lately however, he was starting to think that their accusations actually held a ring of truth to them. After all, for him to have actually developed even somewhat romantic feelings towards the Batman was just that: insane. It held no place in the realms of anything resembling sanity. As far as he saw it the only emotions he should harbor towards the vigilante was fiery hot anger and hatred. At best a grudging respect for accomplishing as much as he had, but even that was questionable. 

Don’t misquote him either. He still did hate the caped crusader in a way if his constant doodles of the Batman meeting his fate someway or another didn’t properly emulate that.. How could he not? That man was the one thing was the only thing that was stopping him from being completely successful in his plan. Not only did the brute have the nerve to undermine his plans (sometimes by cheating, which infuriated Edward to no end) but the man would decide to throw insult to injury by mixing in a few punches and kicks on Edward’s body here and there while doing so. That was the worst. It wasn’t the pain that bothered Edward that much… it hurt like hell but he could easily deal with it… it was the fact that when the Batman punched and kicked him… he would inevitably found himself beaten on the ground… and it would be a painful reminder that he had failed. He was right back where he started at square one being beaten and looked down upon. 

If he were to psychoanalyze himself, he would guess that was why he hated the Batman so much. Because Batman forced him to swallow the bitter pill that was failure like he had done so many times in the past… and then would leave Edward alone to face the nasty side-effects that came with that failure: intense anger and sadness, a deep sense of self-loathing, an overwhelming need for revenge, a sprinkle of self-pity, and horrible self-reflection. 

Every time he was promptly deposited back into Arkham Asylum, he would find himself spending countless of hours while in there running over his failed plans in his mind over and over again - picking out all of the flaws and mistakes and trying to think of what he should’ve done instead. The more he went over the plans, the more obvious the flaws seemed to become. Like how in the hell had he not noticed that little inconsistency before? Why had he not thought of some kind of alternative if the Batman managed to knock down that one part? Why had he hired that specific guy to do the job? Why had he let himself get so angry at that petty insult the Batman or one of his Boy Wonders had thrown at him? 

Why was he such a failure?

These chains of thought would keep him for several nights. He learned not to bother to sleep when he was under that kind of condition. Whenever he tried, what little sleep he got would be plagued with horrible nightmares. The nightmares he noticed all seemed to have a similar theme. They all seemed to involve people beating him up and mocking him. Sometimes the person who was doing it was the Batman. Sometimes it involved miscellaneous people in the past who he had yet to settle the score with. Most of the time the dreams were of his father. Sometimes the subjects of those nightmares would all come together and point out all of his failures… as if he hadn’t been thinking about them. As if he didn’t know that he was still not where he wanted to be. 

As much as he hated the Batman for sending him into such states, he had to admit… there was benefit to it all. There was also a level of thrill to it. The fact that the Batman had been able to foil his elaborate plan meant that for the first time in nearly thirteen years, he had finally found someone whose brain could actually provide him an intellectual challenge for once. The idea of that excited Edward. After all, what fun would victory be if defeating the feared Batman had been a cakewalk? Probably not much fun. It would’ve saved him a lot of stress… but hey, that stress he experienced would make it so much more satisfying to defeat Batman in his game for once. 

He knew for a fact that he was smarter than the Batman could ever hope to be. He just needed to stretch that immense knowledge-base into a larger field. He had to be even more elaborate and intricate than he was before. Every time he got out of Arkham, via legal release or escape, he had another opportunity as he saw it to show just how crafty he was. He was ready to learn from past mistakes and make sure they didn’t happen again. 

So in a way, the Batman forced him to be better. 

It was nice to be goal-oriented again somewhat. Just the idea of getting to experience that glorious day when he would finally stump the Batman and be declared victor… heck, he was giddy at just the thought. If he could defeat Batman, he could prove to the world- and himself - that nothing, not even the mightiest of brawn could defeat the force that was his brain. Besides, it would give him a peace of mind really. If he could defeat the supposedly infallible Batman, then no one stood a chance against him. 

Well, Superman… but one problem at a time. 

Batman gave him something to be busy with. Batman, in his attempt to stop him had only enabled him to become stronger and smarter and more capable than ever in his plot for revenge. Once he got out of Arkham again, he made sure that he came up with a whole new plan with whole other elements. He had learned so many different trades over the year as he built various traps and mechanics and robots and other plots. He had went from simply being a hacker and networker to someone who could set up intricate mazes and traps. He learned mechanical trades and electrical trades.

Hell, Batman even pushed him to be more physical. Someone had to place those Riddler trophies where they were and he sure as hell wasn’t trusting one of his dumb henchmen to do it. Looking back on all of it, even though he still hadn’t reached his ultimate goal, he had accomplished quite a lot in his life. Learned a lot to. Surely there was at least a small level of victory in that?

But he didn’t let his ego get too upped from that. Just because he learned all these different trades and had been able to construct God knows how many things… didn’t mean they were successful in defeating the Batman.

The story always ended up the same usually. It would start with him giddily excited at the beginning, ready to finally see the moment where Batman would struggle. He would laugh when he saw the wheels and cogs in Batman’s head turning as he tried to figure it out, watched as he tried his best to obtain one of the trophies. That excitement was almost destined to die though as it continued.

He never got concerned when he watched Batman get through the first few puzzles or obtain the first few Riddler trophies. They were the first for a reason. They were the easiest. A mere taste of the challenge that was going to come ahead.

As he kept watching though… he found himself gritting his teeth and growing increasingly annoyed. Okay… so he hadn’t calculated on the Batman being able to solve that little trick so easily. He didn’t think that the belt could be used THAT way. And that was fucking cheating and that was totally unfair… 

As the Batman grew closer and closer… many different emotions went through him all at once. Nervousness. Panic. Anger. The impending sense of failure. The first few times he saw Batman go through his mazes and traps, those were the only emotions he could really feel as he mentally debated fleeing or staying around and hoping he could get the upperhand somehow...

But as time went on, he began to notice mixed in with all of those negative emotions were feelings of admiration towards the Batman. The few times he got to watch for himself the Batman going through his trials… he couldn’t help but be impressed. People rarely could keep a calm head in rough situations like the Batman did. It was rare to see someone who wasn’t a blithering idiot. Although Edward had a low opinion on brawn, he had to admit even he admired how strong and durable the vigilante was. The Batman was obviously very technologically advanced too (or at least… knew someone who was) for him to have all of the gadgets he had. The fact he knew how to use them so ideally too…

Honestly, it would’ve been simple if had been left at that. So he admired the Batman. One could easily admire one’s skill and still hate a person with all of their heart. He disliked the Joker to bits… but he couldn’t deny the crime syndicate and name/reputation that clown had made for himself was unmistakably big and strong. Just mentioning the clown by name was enough to get people expressing disgust or fear. There was something to admire about that. However… what he felt towards the Batman didn’t just stop at simple admiration.

He don’t know what really set it off. Maybe it was the couple of times he had found himself in harm’s way but before he someone could actually finish him off the Batman had stepped in and saved him. Maybe it was just the fact that seeing someone who could almost match him in intelligence was just intriguing to him. Maybe it was the fact that Batman had actually taken to not beating the living shit out of him every single meet-up they had. 

Maybe he’d simply gotten hit in the head too many times and now was going a little crazy. It was possible. 

Whatever it was… at some point, he had stopped just wanting to simply mock Batman or even kill him… he instead wanted to converse with him. Get to know him. See how he functioned and how he worked. Find out who he truly was. Smart people like them shouldn’t be arguing. They should be working together… or at the very least getting on a level playing field. They weren’t too far apart now that he thought about it. They were both smart… both knew Gotham inside and out.... both were considered insane. Heck, they were both rich too (that was the only way Batman would be able to afford a car like that). 

Over the course of time he had often debated who the Batman was like every other rogue had. He had his theories - one of which stood out above the rest of them - and maybe one day, when he finally did beat the Batman, his next mission would be simply finding out more about the man behind the mask. Not now though. Right now… he didn’t care who the man was, so long as he beat him fair and square. He had no particular interest in knowing anyway. Kind of ruined some of the fun in his mind. Unlike the Batman, he didn’t cheat in his games.

Just because it wasn’t his particular mission to expose the Batman, that didn’t mean he didn’t want to get to know the man better. He had found the Batman almost becoming a small obsession in his mind. It was easy to brush that obsession off as simply getting rid of his enemy… and it would make sense to think of him when he was devising a trap or something. But why was it when he was playing chess with someone in Arkham, he found himself somewhat wondering how good the Batman was at chess? It was bad enough that he was thinking something as innocent as that… but he also found himself wanting to play against the Batman and see if the man could actually keep up with him during chess?

Whenever the Batman was crawling over to him and asked him for information… Edward found himself more willing to give it then he had before. In fact, a couple of times, he had even found himself almost asking if he could temporarily partner up with the investigator (and he managed to once… though he was not going to ask again in fear of receiving a punch to the face).

He found himself wanting to do all sorts of things with the Batman. Try to see which puzzles he could solve, figure out what food he liked, anything. Surely you didn’t do that with the man you hated? 

He ever wondered if there ever could be a foundation of trust somewhere along the line between them. He doubted it. Realistically, he had already fucked up too many times for the Batman to see him as anything else but untrustworthy criminal scum. Even if Edward got reformed and changed for the better… he doubted that viewpoint would change. And Edward was much too stubborn to leave his goal now… not after he put so much time and effort into it. He had to defeat Batman just once… and he doubted if he won that the Bat would be anything more than a sore loser. Still though… that hope was still there… and that bothered Edward. 

Had he really grown so lonely that he was willing to stretch out even the most minimal affection towards a man who was supposed to be his mortal enemy? It seemed so. Pathetic. 

No matter how much he told himself though that those thoughts were stupid… that they were irrational… that they were never going to happen… he couldn’t deny the way his heart raced when the Batman appeared in his line of sight again. Couldn’t stop himself from trying to engage in some banter. Couldn’t help but feel disappointed when Batman either hauled him off to Arkham or just left him. 

And he couldn’t help the thought of maybe one day… the two of them slowly coming to something resembling maybe an alliance. Couldn’t help the thought of maybe someday removing the Batman’s mask and the person behind the mask allowing him to do it. Couldn’t help the thought of maybe something more happening. 

So maybe in a way, when he cheered with the others in Arkham when they watched live new feeds of Batman facing off some new foe, he did mean it when he rooted for the vigilante to finally die. Maybe a part of him did want to see the Batman gone, even if it wasn’t by him. Because with the Batman gone forever, then he would finally come to the terms with the fact that none of the stupid thoughts and hopes in his head would ever come true and he could finally move on with his life. Maybe just maybe… he could achieve his goal finally without having to fear a fist in his face.

But until that day happened he supposed the only thing he could do was work on his goal and hope that one day once he finally obtained his hard-earned victory that things could for once in their life… start to go his way.

**Author's Note:**

> Man, don't ask me what happened here because I am not completely sure. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of this pairing. Realistically, I could never see this pairing ever becoming a fully-requited thing... with Bruce Wayne's whole stance kind of against villains and everything they do and all. However, I will admit, even I have seen some pretty strong evidence of Edward wanting to pursue a friendship or even a relationship with Batman in the comics... and it kind of inspired this off of me. 
> 
> I will admit, this was SUPER fun to write at the beginning. I was really enjoying it. Edward I've come to learn is extremely fun to write. However, admittedly, I didn't know how to end this so if the ending is fart, I apologize. 
> 
> Critiques, as always are welcome and I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
